Mother Knows Best
by FangZeronos
Summary: Violet needs someone to talk to after the events of the day. Who better then Artemis?


It had been raining in Star City. She knew she should fly over to the house, but she couldn't bring herself to use her powers. The sound of thunder off in the distance made her jump, but she wrapped her arms around herself and trudged on anyway. Making her way to the house, soaked to the bone as she walked up the step to the porch, Violet Harper knocked on the door gently, biting her lip as she waited.

The door opened and Artemis tilted her head softly. "Violet? What are you doing here?" she asked, letting the younger girl inside. "You're soaked. Did you walk in the rain?"

Violet nodded softly. "I did not want to fly. I…I did not know where else to go."

"Sweetie, let's get you dried off and into some dry clothes and we'll talk, ok?" Artemis asked, taking Violet's hand and leading her to the bathroom. "I'll be right back with some clothes. You start drying off."

"Yes, ma'am," Violet said with a bit of a smile.

After drying off and getting into dry clothes, and being thankful she left some there, Violet wrapped her hands around a mug of hot chocolate, watching as Artemis sat beside her. Both women were silent for a minute, the only sound being Brucely's claws tapping on the hardwood as he settled under the table.

"So…you want to tell me why you got arrested?" Artemis asked. Seeing the look of shock on Violet's face, Artemis put her hand on the other girl's arm. "M'gann called me and told me. I was going to talk to you about it tomorrow anyway."

Violet sighed, pulling her hands back. "It…is part of why I skipped training." She looked down, her heart pounding in her chest. "How…would you feel if…you found out that you were dying because of your powers?"

"What?" Artemis asked, her eyes wide. "Who told you that? I'll kill them."

"Don't!" Violet said, shaking her head and blowing her hair out of her face. "It was Dr. Jace. She…ran tests on some of my hair from Halloween when Victor's Father Box went bad again. Every time I use my Violet Aura to heal myself, my body deteriorates just a bit more. The more I use it, the more it will happen." She sighed and looked down, kicking at the floor softly. "I skipped training and was with Harper Row from school. At the beach where we got our super suits."

"Near the old Mount Justice," Artemis said.

"Mmhmm. She had brought alcohol and a gun. We were just having fun, but…."

"Fun with alcohol and a handgun? We'll come back to that and I'll have to teach you firearms safety soon," Artemis said. "But what? Go on."

"When…I had my second drink from the bottle, Harper kissed me," Violet said, looking down as her face got red and tears brimmed her eyes. "I knew I should have left, but I couldn't. I told her I had a boyfriend, and Harper admitted she did too before she kissed me again. The second time, I was more interested, but in my heart I knew it was wrong because I had been ignoring Brion today…I still am…"

Artemis nodded, putting her hand on Violet's and squeezing. "Violet, there is nothing wrong with kissing your friend. As long as you two didn't go further then a kiss, there's no harm in it. Every girl is entitled to at least one lesbian moment in their lifetime," she said with a smile. "You just need to talk to Brion tomorrow and explain what's going on. Explain what Dr. Jace found, come clean about what happened on the beach, and if he loves you like he says he does, he'll understand, and he hopefully won't be upset."

Violet nodded, biting her lip. "There is one other thing I have only told Dr. Jace," she said. "Do you remember…my outburst on Thanksgiving?"

"About "That dog should not be taking bribes"? Before you got up and ran out? I remember. Why?" Artemis asked.

Violet sighed softly. "I have been seeing Gabrielle's life. In the Markovian Royal Palace. It started when we encountered the man with the boomerangs in Russia." She looked over at Artemis, pulling her hand back and folding them in her lap before she got up and wrapped her arms around herself tightly. "Gabrielle…was paid to let the assassin into the Palace. She let him in and stood by when Brion's parents were murdered. It's my fault! If he ever finds out I did it, he'll hate me! Brion will hate me and he'll push me away and I—"

She collapsed to the ground, sobbing as she drew her legs up. Violet heard the second chair move and felt Artemis' arms around her, curling up into her friend. "He's going to hate me…"

"No, honey, no," Artemis said, rubbing Violet's back. "What happened was on Gabrielle. She isn't you. You are you. You are Violet Harper, not Gabrielle Daou. When you tell him what you've been seeing, I will be right there to beat the sense into him if he turns his back on you. You don't deserve to be pushed away or hated for what your past life did. That would be like me hating my mother for being in prison because she was shot and got caught because she was Huntress. I'll be there to help you when you're ready to talk about what happened in Markovia."

Violet nodded, sniffling softly and wiping her eyes. "Ok…" she whispered. "Can I stay tonight? I'll go home tomorrow and talk with Brion."

Artemis nodded. "Of course you can. I'll text M'gann and have her tell your teachers you're not going to school tomorrow, and when we get up, we'll go to the Hub and talk to Brion, alright?"

"Alright," Violet said. She looked over as the sound of little feet caught her ears, and she felt herself smile. "Hi, Lian."

"Vi!" Lian giggled, running over and hopping in her lap. "Missed you."

"I missed you," Violet said, hugging Lian and kissing her head.

"You cries?" Lian asked, looking up and poking Violet's cheek and holding up a tear. "Why sad?"

"I'm sad because I am messed up inside my mind," Violet said. "I have…grown up problems to deal with and they became overwhelming."

Lian nodded, frowning. "Auntie Mouse, you help Vi become whelmed!"

Artemis groaned and snickered. "Yes, honey. I promise," she said, kissing Lian's forehead. "What are you doing up?"

"Heard noise. Wanted to see," Lian said, hugging close to Violet. "Now I snuggling."

"I can see that," Violet giggled, giving Lian a squeeze. "I'll put you back to bed. And then, I'll wake you up in the morning."

"Yay!"

Violet floated up off of the ground and set her feet on the floor, carrying Lian to her room and laying the young girl down. "Go back to sleep and think of fun things."

"Kitties and rainbows," Lian said, her head hitting the pillow as her eyes shut.

Violet smiled softly, pulling the blankets over Lian and walking out of the room. She looked over at Artemis and smiled a bit. "Thank you, Artemis. For listening to me."

"Of course, sweetie," Artemis said, hugging Violet and smiling. "Whenever you need me, you can always come by or I can come to you. Just text me."

Violet nodded, yawning softly. "Alright. I…should probably sleep. Tomorrow is going to be difficult."

"You'll be fine. I'll be with you every step of the way," Artemis said, squeezing Violet's hand. "Go to bed. I'll see you in the morning."

"Good night," Violet said, making her way to her room and shutting the door before she sank onto the bed and collapsed onto the pillow.

Artemis smiled softly and shook her head. "When did I adopt a teenager? Oh, well…Mother knows best," she said, heading for her own room as she shut the light off.


End file.
